BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs jumped out to a two-goal lead by halftime and defeated the Longwood Lancers, 3-1, in its first Big South Conference match of the season on Saturday night.

"We came out with intensity tonight, which is always good to see when we start conference play," said head coach Tony Setzer. "Getting two goals in the first half was huge, but Longwood didn't quit. They had several attempts in the second half, but our back line did a good job of keeping them off the scoreboard."

Gardner-Webb (4-3-1, 1-0 Big South) controlled the pace through the majority of the first half, outshooting Longwood, 13-2. The Lancers put one of their two shots on target over the first 45 minutes of action, but it was saved by Daniel Husa.

The Runnin' Bulldogs' Pedro Benito placed a shot on goal in the eighth minute and 12 minutes later he assisted on Hendrik Kortgodde's goal. Benito sent a pass to his fellow freshman, and Kortgodde dribbled inside the six where he fired a shot from the center of the box, which found the back of the net. His second goal of the year gave Gardner-Webb a 1-0 lead.

Kortgodde nearly scored again in the 29^th and 30^th minutes, but one attempt hit the crossbar, and his header was saved by Longwood's Jacob Reimers.

With five minutes until halftime, Abel Gebrekiros sent a ball to Simen Olsen who found Jorge Salgado inside the 18 near the endline. Salgado netted his team-leading fifth goal of the season to give the Runnin' Bulldogs a multi-goal lead.

Longwood (3-4-0, 0-1 Big South) took five shots in the first five minutes of the final half, but none of the attempts were on goal. Despite shot by both teams early in the half, the first attempt on goal came in the 77^th minute when Husa stopped Ander Etxaniz's shot.

The Lancers made it a one-goal contest just prior to the 80-minute mark when Chase Quinn headed the ball into the upper left off Markus Gronli's corner. Longwood then attempted to net the equalizer with 3:39 remaining, but Mikel Abando's header landed wide of the net.

Gardner-Webb's Edin Hernandez collected Husa's goal kick following the corner and sent the ball to Benito who dribbled inside the six and scored to push Gardner-Webb's lead back to two goals.

Husa made his third and final save of the night with 93 seconds remaining as Gardner-Webb picked up won 3-1 to open league play.

Each team attempted double-digit shots with the Runnin' Bulldogs ending the night one shy of 20, while Lancers was a shot short of 15 attempts. Gardner-Webb placed six shots on target, and the Longwood placed four on goal.

The Runnin' Bulldogs will return to action on Tuesday, October 1 when they travel to 18^th-ranked Virginia Tech. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from Blacksburg, Va. and can be seen live on the ACC Digital Network Extra.